Alberta RCMP charge couple with murder in death of former Ottawa man

The Canadian Press
Published Jun 01, 2015  •  Last updated Jun 02, 2020  •  2 minute read
Adrian Nicholas Gregory was identified by RCMP as the man whose body was found in a burned-out late-model Jeep outside Edmonton Dec. 30, 2014.
Adrian Nicholas Gregory was identified by RCMP as the man whose body was found in a burned-out late-model Jeep outside Edmonton Dec. 30, 2014.

EDMONTON RCMP have charged two people with first-degree murder in the death of a former Ottawa man whose body was found in a burnt-out Jeep outside of Edmonton.

Adrian Gregory’s body was found by emergency crews who were called to a vehicle fire in the industrial park on the west side of Sherwood Park, in Strathcona County, at about 12:45 a.m. on Dec. 30.

RCMP say Jeremy Pershaw, who was also in the vehicle, was wounded.

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Both men had been shot.

Gregory’s death was a second blow to his parents. Gregory’s younger sister, Jasmine Gregory, was 21 when the lives of her and her friend, Charmaine Collins, 23, were cut tragically short Dec. 14, 2013, in a fire at a home in Ottawa on Claymore Crescent.

Jasmine Gregory died along with her roommate in a house fire in December 2013. One year later, her brother was the victim of a homicide near Edmonton.
Jasmine Gregory died along with a friend in a house fire in December 2013. One year later, her brother was the victim of a homicide near Edmonton.

Adrian Gregory told the Citizen soon after that he had learned that his sister had died through Facebook. He had looked on the social media website after he picked up a voice mail from a family member who said they had bad news.

Jasmine Gregory, her four sisters and brother were all adopted by a couple who lived on a farm near the small town of Westport, south of Perth. Adrian Gregory said he had fond memories of playing with his sister in piles of sand on the family’s land when Jasmine was a child.

An RCMP vehicle blocks the road in an industrial park near Edmonton where the body of Adrian Gregory, 30, formerly of Ottawa, was found in a burnt-out Jeep on Dec. 30, 20124.
An RCMP vehicle blocks the road in an industrial park near Edmonton where the body of Adrian Gregory, 30, formerly of Ottawa, was found in a burnt-out Jeep on Dec. 30, 20124. Photo by Otiena Ellwand /Edmonton Journal

Gregory was born in Edmonton and moved back there in 2011 to work in the oil and gas industry. He started organizing bike-related fundraisers, such as an annual barbecue to raise money for children’s cancer research, and bike competitions through his company, Ace Wheelies Inc.

His sister, Isabelle Gregory, told the CBC that he moved to Edmonton to turn his life around after a few run-ins with police in Ottawa.

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His brushes with the law didn’t stop in Edmonton. In March 2014 he was sentenced to six months in jail and got a five-year driving prohibition for mischief and damage under $5,000, disqualified driving and breach of court orders.

RCMP said Monday they have charged Shane Tym of Chilliwack, B.C., and Sarah Posthumus, who is from the small community of Tara, Ont., near Owen Sound, with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Tym, who is 28, was to appear in Strathcona County court Wednesday. Posthumus, who is 29, has been released on bail pending a future court date.

With files from Meghan Hurley and the Edmonton Journal

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